Conflict-related Sexual Violence

  • 2020 | Author: United Nations

    Handbook for United Nations Field Missions on Preventing and Responding to Conflict-Related Sexual Violence

    This Handbook is intended to serve as a practical guide to support the implementation of the CRSV mandate by United Nations Field Missions, including Peacekeeping Operations and Special Political Missions. It serves both as a guidance for civilians, military and police personnel deployed to United Nations Field Missions and as a pre-deployment orientation tool for future Mission personnel.

     

  • 2012 | Author: United Nations (Department of Political Affairs)

    Guidance for Mediators: Addressing Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Ceasefire and Peace Agreements

    The United Nations requires its mediators to address conflict-related sexual violence. This guidance offers mediators and their teams principles and strategies for including this critical peacebuilding and security concern in ceasefire and peace agreements.

  • 2011 | Author: United Nations Action Network

    Early Warning Indicators of Conflict-related Sexual Violence

    This matrix should be viewed as an illustrative, system-wide reference document, planning tool and inventory that can be adapted and integrated into existing and emerging early-warning and prevention systems at the local, national and regional level, on a case-by-case basis. It can inform the tools used for planning, reporting, information-collection and analysis within DPKO-led Peacekeeping Missions, DPA-led Special Political Missions, UN Country Teams, or at Headquarters-level.

  • 2011 | Author: United Nations Action Network

    Analytical and Conceptual Framing of Conflict-related Sexual Violence

    The aim is to define the scope of ‘conflict-related sexual violence’ primarily for the purpose of standardizing reporting through the new Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Arrangements (MARA). Enhanced clarity will support the challenging task of collecting, classifying and analyzing information to provide the Security Council and other global bodies with data that is comparable across field situations and over time.

National Dialogues

  • 2017 | Author: Inclusive Peace & Transition Initiative - Thania Paffenholz, Anne Zachariassen and Cindy Helfer

    What Makes or Breaks National Dialogues

  • 2017 | Author: Federal Foreign Office and Berghof Foundation, in cooperation with Swisspeace

    National Dialogue Handbook: A Guide for Practitioners

  • 2017 | Author: Inclusive Peace & Transition Initiative

    Briefing Note: What Makes or Breaks National Dialogues

  • 2013 | Author: Katia Papagianni (Civil Society Dialogue Network-CSDN)

    National Dialogue Processes in Political Transitions

    This paper examines how different countries have approached national dialogues, how they have prepared them, and what mandates they have given to them. The goal of the paper is to inform practitioners who are engaged in designing and preparing national dialogues to always bear in mind that political transitions are unique events and that transferring lessons across countries is a difficult enterprise. The paper focuses on countries where national dialogues played a key role in influencing decision-making during political transitions or were mandated to play such a role but ultimately failed. It does not discuss sub-national dialogue efforts or dialogues which were not mandated to influence the shape of the transition. This paper has been produced in the framework of the Civil Society Dialogue Network.

  • 2013 | Author: General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (GS/OAS), United Nations Development Program (UNDP)

    Practical Guide on Democratic Dialogue

    This Guide offers a series of criteria, guidelines and tools that allow societal actors to understand better what a democratic dialogue implies as a process, and to undertake successful dialogic initiatives. It has four sections: the first one offers an overview of conflictivity in Latin America. The second section presents concepts and basic elements of dialogue, including its definition and guiding principles, and it also elaborates on the roles in a dialogue process and the terms of the facilitator. In the third section, the different stages of a dialogue process are described and explained. The last section offers a set of methodological tools that can be used during all the phases of a democratic dialogue process.

  • 2010 | Author: UNDP, AECID Spain Fund-UNDP, Dialogo Democratico, Carter Center

    Assessing the Binational Dialogue Colombia-Ecuador 2007 – 2008

    This paper presents the main findings of the evaluation of the 'Binational Dialogue Colombia-Ecuador', which consisted of a sequence of bilateral meetings and other activities between citizens from the two countries. This evaluation aims at analyzing the dialogue process, its objectives and outcomes, in order to capture its contribution to and impact on the strengthening and improvement of bilateral relations between Colombia and Ecuador. It also identifies lessons learned that might be used as a guide for individuals involved in citizen dialogue processes with a view to achieve social and political impact, whether they act as stakeholders, facilitators or convening institutions.

  • 2007 | Author: UNDP, CIDA, International IDEA, OAS

    Democratic Dialogue: A Handbook for Practitioners

    The principal aim of this Handbook is to demonstrate concretely how dialogue works and how it can make a difference in the pursuit of peace, development and democratic governance. To achieve this goal, it presents options and methods to carry out a successful dialogue process and analyses lessons learned to narrow the gap between theory and practice. It presents practitioners with recommendations and options based on a wide variety of experience. The Handbook also demonstrates that dialogue is not a panacea and that its success depends on careful preparations. 

  • 1998 | Author: International IDEA

    Democracy and Deep-Rooted Conflict: Options for Negotiators (Chapter 4: National Conferences)

    This chapter of the Handbook on "Democracy and Deep-Rooted Conflict" focuses on national conferences and constituent assemblies as a widely used mechanism for bringing together political groups to discuss and plan key aspects of a country’s future development. It considers the objectives of a national conference, how it can be organized and implemented, and its advantages and weaknesses. In the case study that follows, it looks at how national conferences have impacted on the political development of five Francophone African countries.

Europe

  • 2017 | Author: David Harland

    Never again - International Intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina

    This study is one of a series commissioned as part of an ongoing UK Government Stabilisation Unit project relating to elite bargains and political deals. The paper explores the international intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina and its effectiveness in fostering and sustaining political deals and elite bargains; and whether or not these political deals and elite bargains have helped reduce violence, increased local, regional and national stability and contributed to the strengthening of the relevant political settlement.

  • 2009 | Author: R.Kostic (Upsalla University, in support of the Mediation Support Unit, Department of Political Affairs, United Nations)

    Reconciling the Past and the Present: Evaluating Dayton Peace Accords 1995

    This study sets out to examine what lessons can be learned from the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (The Dayton Peace Agreement) 1995, with particular relevance to inter-ethnic reconciliation. The study identifies a number of important lessons, and presents them in relation to the process of negotiations, designing of provisions, and implementation of the agreement.

  • 1999 | Author: B.O'Leary (Fordham International Law Journal)

    The Nature of the Agreement: the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement

    This article summarizes the provisions of the Belfast or Good Friday Agreement (1998), its legislative enactment in the United Kingdom's Northern Ireland Act (1998) and the treaty between the Governments of the UK and Ireland (1999). The consociational or power-sharing character of the Agreement is explored, as are its confederal and federalizing possibilities. The article also seeks to explain the political settlement, the peace process and the novel d'Hondt procedures for allocating positions in the cabinet. In addition it anticipates the difficulties in the implementation of the Agreement.

Women Peace and Security

  • 2017 | Author: United Nations

    Guidance on Gender and Inclusive Mediation Strategies

    This UN DPA guidance seeks to inform mediators and their teams, as well as conflict parties, about the principles and strategies for the effective inclusion of women, as well as a gendered perspective, in mediation processes. The guidance addresses mediation preparation, process design, and substantive issues including security arrangements, participation, constitutions, language and the implementation of peace agreements through a gender lens. Also available in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish.

Mediation Process and Strategy

  • 2017 | Author: Federal Foreign Office & Initiative Mediation Support Deutschland (IMSD)

    Basics of Mediation: Concepts and Definitions

    Fact Sheet Series: Peace Mediation and Mediation Support

  • 2016 | Author: Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict

    Checklist for Drafting Children and Armed Conflict Provisions in Ceasefire and Peace Agreements

    Also read in Arabic, Spanish, French. This checklist developed by ‘Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict’ provides recommendations to mediators and their teams, which can assist in incorporating inclusive and child protection-relevant language and provisions in various parts of peace agreements. The recommendations are offered in full recognition that peace agreements are context specific and that what is achievable and desirable will depend on circumstances.

  • 2015 | Author: United Nations, European Union

    EU-UN Guidance Note on Supporting Insider Mediation - Strengthening Resilience to Conflict and Turbulence

    This Guidance Note builds on the experience of the UN and the EU in supporting national counterparts in preventing and resolving violent tensions, and and is the first attempt to document and distill best practices on supporting insider mediators. Unlike external mediation, insider mediation draws upon the abilities of institutions or individuals that are seen as “insiders” within a given context to broker differences, build consensus, and resolve conflict.

  • 2015 | Author: Vicenc Fisas, School for a Culture of Peace, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona

    Yearbook of Peace Processes 2015

    This tenth edition of the Yearbook on Peace Processes analyses conflicts in which negotiations are being held to reach a peace agreement, regardless of whether these negotiations are formalised, are in the exploratory phase, are faring well or, to the contrary, are stalled or in the midst of crisis. It also analyses some cases in which negotiations or explorations are partial; that is, they do not include all the armed groups present in the country (such as the case of India, for example). The majority of the negotiations refer to armed conflicts, but we also analyse quite a few contexts in which, despite the fact that there are no considerable armed clashes today, the parties have not reached a permanent agreement that would put an end to the hostilities and conflicts still pending. In that sense, the negotiations make sense in an effort to fend off the start or resurgence of new armed clashes.

  • 2014 | Author: Vicenc Fisas, School for a Culture of Peace, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona

    Yearbook of Peace Processes 2014

    This ninth edition of the Yearbook on Peace Processes analyzes conflicts in which negotiations are being held to reach a peace agreement, regardless of whether these negotiations are formalized, are in the exploratory phase, are faring well or, to the contrary, are stalled or in the midst of crisis. It also analyses some cases in which negotiations or explorations are partial; that is, they do not include all the armed groups present in the country (such as the case of India, for example). The majority of the negotiations refer to armed conflicts, but we also analyze quite a few contexts in which, despite the fact that there are no considerable armed clashes today, the parties have not reached a permanent agreement that would put an end to the hostilities and conflicts still pending. In that sense, the negotiations make sense in an effort to fend off the start or resurgence of new armed clashes.

  • 2014 | Author: Alexander Ramsbotham and Achim Wennmann

    Policy Brief - Legitimacy and Peace Process: From Coercion to Consent

    This 6-page policy brief summarizes the findings of Accord 25 - Legitimacy and peace processes: from coercion to consent. It argues that a legitimacy lens should be applied to peace processes by paying attention to priorities of context, consent and change.

  • 2014 | Author: Alexander Ramsbotham and Achim Wennmann

    Legitimacy and Peace Processes: From Coercion to Consent (Accord 25)

    The 25th edition of the Accord series focuses on legitimacy and the practical ways that it can contribute to building more sustainable peace. It looks at 15 country case studies at various stages of conflict, including the Philippines, Syria, Afghanistan, the Basque Country, Somaliland, Yemen and Burma. These case studies focus on four types of peacebuilding activity: national dialogue, constitutional review, local governance and transforming coercive actors

  • 2012 | Author: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)

    OSCE Guide on Non-military Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs)

    This Guide is destined to policymakers and practitioners seeking to develop and implement effective CBMs. The first chapter lays out the conceptual framework, covering, inter alia, what non-military CBMs are, their historical development, their relationship with CSBMs and other conflict-related measures as well as the nature, characteristics and limitations of CBMs. The second chapter includes practical guidance on developing and implementing CBMs. Finally, the third chapter includes ten examples of past and current CBMs implemented by the OSCE in its different regions and dimensions.

  • 2011 | Author: H.J. Giessmann, O.Wils (Berghof Foundation)

    Seeking Compromise? Mediation Through the Eyes of Conflict Parties

    This paper looks at mediation through the eyes of the conflict parties. By shedding some light on the stakeholders’ motivation to consider third-party mediation a viable option, the paper intends to bring added value to the ongoing discourse on how to make mediation an effective approach to conflict transformation. The paper also elaborates on the core interests of conflict parties in third-party mediation and proposes recommendations for practice and research in mediation or mediation support.

  • 2011 | Author: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)

    Perspectives of the UN and Regional Organizations on Preventive and Quiet Diplomacy, Dialogue Facilitation and Mediation: Common Challenges and Good...

    This report reflects the main issues discussed during a workshop on “Preventive and Quiet Diplomacy, Dialogue Facilitation and Mediation – Best Practices from Regional Organizations 1” held in co-operation with the United Nations’ Department of Political Affairs in December 2010. The report identifies common challenges to mediation faced by regional organizations as well as good practices. Opportunities for closer co-operation among regional organizations on the issue of mediation support are also suggested. 

  • 2010 | Author: H.Burgess, G.Burgess (United States Institute of Peace – USIP)

    Conducting Track II Peace Making

    This handbook is written for both track I and track II actors. It illuminates the role and importance of track II activities; charts a wide range of track II activities, from assessment, conception, and planning to implementation and evaluation; and discusses the need for ensuring that different peacemaking efforts complement and reinforce one another. 

  • 2010 | Author: M. Lindgren, P. Wallensteen, H. Grusell (Uppsala University)

    Meeting the New Challenges to International Mediation: Report from an International Symposium at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research

    This paper presents the discussions of the Uppsala symposium on Mediation in June 2010 which highlighted a number of issues novel either to researchers or to practitioners. For the purpose of this conference eight themes based on recent research were identified, inter alia pointing to the importance of the mandate for mediation, the resources available for the mediators (including research-based insights into local situations as well as into process issues), the difference between humanitarian and political mediation, the coordination of separate mediation efforts, the impact of unexpected events, ways of measuring mediation outcomes and the mediator’s responsibility for what happens in the post-accord period.

  • 2010 | Author: I.W.Zartman, A.de Soto (United States Institute of Peace - USIP)

    Timing Mediation Initiatives

    This toolkit lays out the steps mediators can take to recognize if a conflict is ripe for negotiation, foster the parties’ perception of ripeness, and to ripen the conflict. Step 1 describes how the mediator should assess whether a mutually hurting stalemate exists. Step 2 focuses on assessing the parties’ perception of a way out. Step 3 presents measures the mediator can take to induce the parties’ perception of a stalemate and a way out. Step 4 explains how to enhance objective conditions for ripeness, creating a stalemate and the pain associated with it as a basis for further efforts to encourage the perception of the new facts. If ripening is not possible, Step 5, involves the mediator positioning so that the parties recognize that they can turn to the mediator for help when the situation eventually becomes ripe.

  • 2009 | Author: Lt. General L.Sumbeiywo (CSS, ETH Zurich, Swisspeace)

    To Be a Negotiator: Strategies and Tactics

    This article  covers the main issues involved in preparation for negotiations, as well as the strategies and tactics of a negotiator during the negotiations phase, while also addressing, in parallel, the necessary qualities of a good negotiator.

  • 2009 | Author: New Routes/Life & Peace Institute

    Conflict Transformation: Three Lenses in one Frame

    The aim of this publication is to reflect on different aspects of conflict transformation, to explain its basic theory, to compare it with other approaches to peacebuilding and to describe its effects in reality.

  • 2008 | Author: Task Forces on Strengthening Multilateral Security Capacity (International Peace Institute)

    Mediation and Peace Processes

  • 2008 | Author: L.Brahimi, S.Ahmed

    In Pursuit of Sustainable Peace The Seven Deadly Sins of Mediation

    This article presents seven mistakes often committed in peace processes and are referred to as ‘the seven deadly sins.’  These are: ignorance; arrogance; partiality; impotence; haste; inflexibility; and false promises.

  • 2008 | Author: European Centre for Conflict Prevention

    Assessing Progress on the Road to Peace: Planning, Monitoring and Evaluating Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding Activities

    This paper highlights the multiple challenges faced with planning, monitoring and evaluating conflict prevention activities and examines some options in dealing with these challenges.

  • 2007 | Author: O.Wolleh (Berghof Foundation for Peace Support)

    Track 1.5 Approaches to Conflict Management: Assessing Good Practice and Areas for Improvement

    This Protocol is the outcome the lessons learned Retreat organised by the Berghof Foundation for Peace Support in Schloss Hueningen (4-6 March 2007). The overall aim of this Retreat was to offer space for learning and exchange between a number of organisations specialised in track 1.5 methodologies in order to gain further insights for improving practice. This Protocol seeks to explore the different viewpoints about the precise constitutive characteristics of track 1.5 processes.

  • 2007 | Author: J.Mapendere

    Track One and a Half Diplomacy and the Complementarity of Tracks

    This paper presents Track One and a Half Diplomacy as operationalized at The Carter Center in order to enhance the ongoing struggle for clarity of its definition. Furthermore, the paper argues that the greatest strength of Track One and a Half is its ability to apply both Track One and Track Two Diplomacy within a strategic framework for peace.

  • 2001 | Author: W.Zartman (The Global Review of Ethnopolitics)

    The Timing of Peace Initiatives: Hurting Stalemates and Ripe Moments

    This article is about the timing of resolution efforts in international conflicts. It identifies strategies for finding the right moment to gain entry into a conflict, and demonstrates that negotiation efforts cannot have any success when the third-party mediators do not take ripeness into consideration.

  • 2001 | Author: J.Bercovich, R.Jackson (Negotiation Journal)

    Negotiation or Mediation? An Exploration of Factors Affecting the Choice of Conflict Management in International Conflict

    The conditions under which negotiation or mediation are chosen in international conflict have been neglected by research, which has tended to focus on the motivations and rational calculations of the states involved. Employing an original data set, the authors find that negotiation tends to be used when conflicts are relatively simple, of a low intensity, and when both parties are relatively equal in power. Mediation, on the other hand, tends to be used in complex, protracted and more high-intensity disputes between unequal and less cooperative parties.

  • 1998 | Author: L.Nathan (Centre for Conflict Resolution)

    A Case of Undue Pressure: International Mediation in African Civil Wars

    This paper focuses on the mediator's strategy and tactics as variables that enhance or diminish the prospect of success. The critique is organised around six strategic principles of mediation: mediators must not be partisan; the parties must consent to mediation and the appointment of the mediator; conflict cannot be resolved quickly and easily; the parties must own the settlement; mediators must be flexible; and mediators must not apply punitive measures. The significance of each of these principles is explained in terms of the political and psychological pressure experienced by parties in conflict, and the problems that flow from breaches of the principles are illustrated with reference to mediation efforts in African civil wars. 

  • 1992 | Author: United Nations (Office of Legal Affairs)

    Handbook on the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes between States

    The purpose of the handbook is to contribute to the peaceful settlement of disputes between States and to help to increase compliance with international law by providing States parties to a dispute, particularly those States which do not have the benefit of long-established and experienced legal departments, with the information they might need to select and apply procedures best suited to the settlement of particular disputes. The handbook has been prepared in strict conformity with the Charter of the United Nations.

  • 2016 | Author: Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict

    Checklist for Drafting Children and Armed Conflict Provisions in Ceasefire and Peace Agreements (Spanish)

    This checklist developed by ‘Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict’ provides recommendations to mediators and their teams, which can assist in incorporating inclusive and child protection-relevant language and provisions in various parts of peace agreements. The recommendations are offered in full recognition that peace agreements are context specific and that what is achievable and desirable will depend on circumstances.

  • 2016 | Author: Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict

    Checklist for Drafting Children and Armed Conflict Provisions in Ceasefire and Peace Agreements (Arabic)

    This checklist developed by ‘Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict’ provides recommendations to mediators and their teams, which can assist in incorporating inclusive and child protection-relevant language and provisions in various parts of peace agreements. The recommendations are offered in full recognition that peace agreements are context specific and that what is achievable and desirable will depend on circumstances.

  • 2016 | Author: Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict

    Checklist for Drafting Children and Armed Conflict Provisions in Ceasefire and Peace Agreements (French)

    This checklist developed by ‘Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict’ provides recommendations to mediators and their teams, which can assist in incorporating inclusive and child protection-relevant language and provisions in various parts of peace agreements. The recommendations are offered in full recognition that peace agreements are context specific and that what is achievable and desirable will depend on circumstances.

  • 2012 | Author: Mediation Support Network (MSN)

    Translating Mediation Guidance into Practice: Commentary on the UN Guidance for Effective Mediation

    This report developed by the members of the Mediation Support Network (MSN), expands on the UN Guidance for Effective Mediation developed in response to a request from the General Assembly (A/RES/65/283). The report provides examples of effective and ineffective mediation practice in conflicts around the world. In this commentary, each section of the Guidance is briefly summarized and discussed, and then case stud­ies are presented to highlight the way in which these fundamentals have worked in practice from the MSN perspective. Each section ends with a few key lessons learned. 

  • 2006 | Author: M.Bogaards, N.H.Barma, C.A.Monteux, N.Stojanovic, P.A. Kraus (IJMS, Vol. 8, No. 2, 2006)

    Democracy and Power-Sharing in Multi-National States

    This publication on democracy and power-sharing in multinational states discusses the problematic nature of the relationship between democracy and power-sharing, especially in the context of post-conflict societies. It offers four different perspectives which give nuanced answers to the leading questions about the relationship between power-sharing and democracy. These perspectives are based on the study of transitional bodies in Cambodia, East Timor and Afghanistan; the analysis of decentralisation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Kosovo; the review of the experience of direct democracy and power-sharing in Swiss multilingual cantons and; the critique of the European Union political architecture and priorities.

  • 2005 | Author: Teresa Whitfield (Center on International Cooperation)

    A Crowded Field: Groups of Friends, the United Nations and the Resolution of Conflict

    This paper traces the evolution of groups of Friends—understood as informal groups of states formed to support the peacemaking of the United Nations—from the emergence of Friends of the Secretary-General on El Salvador in 1990, at a moment of post-Cold War optimism regarding the UN’s peacemaking capacity, to the more complex (and crowded) environment for conflict resolution of the mid-2000s.

  • 1995 | Author: Thomas M. Franck (6 EJIL (1995) 1-387)

    The Secretary-General’s Role in Conflict Resolution: Past, Present and Pure Conjecture

    This essay will trace the evolution of the good offices function with an eye toward identifying factors which may play a significant longer-range role in its future development.

Gender and Mediation

  • 2015 | Author: Center for Security Studies ETH Zurich and swisspeace

    Gender in Mediation: An Exercise Handbook for Trainers

    This handbook was designed to assist negotiation and mediation trainers in making mediation trainings more gender-sensitive. By offering practical exercises to trainers, the handbook seeks to raise participants’ awareness of the role of gender in negotiation and mediation processes, and to stimulate discussions in training sessions. Exercises are classified according to the various broad topics often covered in mediation trainings: 1) actors and their conflict behaviors, 2) topics in mediation processes and peace agreements, and 3) process design including conflict analysis, phases, format, participation, etc.

  • 2012 | Author: C.Buchanan, A.Cooper, C.Griggers, L.Low, R.Manchanda, R.Peters and A.P.Prentice (HD Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue)

    From clause to effect: including women’s rights and gender in peace agreements

    This report examines six peace agreements from the Asia and Pacific region to identify how reference to women's rights and gender perspectives were included - or excluded - in those texts. The report focuses in particular on five recurring issues in peace processes - power sharing, security arrangements, access to justice, resource sharing, and the monitoring of agreements - and recommends alternative wording to improve the agreements' references to women's rights and gender perspectives.

  • 2011 | Author: C.Bell, C.O’Rourke (HD Center for Humanitarian Dialogue)

    UN Security Council 1325 and Peace Negotiations and Agreements

    UN Security Council Resolution 1325 provides for a range of measures aimed at the inclusion of women in the prevention, management and resolution of violent conflict. In particular, several of the resolution’s provisions addressed the role of women and gender in peace negotiations and agreements. Ten years on, it is possible to test the effect that SCR 1325 has had on peace agreement texts by analysing references to women and gender.

  • 2010 | Author: UNIFEM (part of UNWOMEN)

    Women’s Participation in Peace Negotiations: Connections between Presence and Influence

    This paper reviews the modalities of engagement that have been used in various peace processes to enhance women’s participation or the availability of gender expertise. It summarizes women’s demands during peace negotiations as articulated in statements and declarations, assesses the gender-related content of peace agreements and offers recommendations for the way forward.

  • 2009 | Author: M.Page, T.Whitman, C.Anderson - Institute for Inclusive Security

    Bringing Women into Peace Negotiations - Strategies for Policymakers

    This guide provides concrete strategies to successfully bring women into peace negotiations. The guide consists of a set of best practices highlighting policies and programs proven to increase women’s participation, as well as stories from Guatemala, Darfur/Sudan, Northern Ireland and Sri Lanka, that have shown these mechanisms better involve women in all stages of the peace-building process.

Lessons Learning

  • 2015 | Author: N. Gill (Center for Security Studies - CSS)

    Inside the Box: Using Integrative Simulations to Teach Conflict, Negotiation and Mediation

    This book offers Integrative Simulations (IN-simulations) as one model of learning that involves multi-session scenarios (designed to take from two days to several months) based on existing conflicts, reflecting the perspectives of authentic parties. IN-simulations provide participants with the opportunity to immerse themselves directly in a conflict and negotiation, learn about the beliefs and interests of a wide variety of actors from their own perspectives, and experience the dynamics between parties in an environment that closely replicates reality. The guide should be useful for instructors who offer training in negotiation and mediation to professionals and practitioners; university professors and program directors who wish to provide courses that integrate academic knowledge with practice-based learning; and experts, mediators or negotiators who seek to develop teaching methods that help them convey what they have learned and experienced ‘in the field’.

  • 2013 | Author: E.Isoaho, S.Tuuli (Crisis Management Initiative - CMI)

    From Pre-Talks to Implementation: Lessons Learned from Mediation Processes

    This publication seeks to offer useful insights and concrete support for anyone involved in mediation processes by gathering lessons learnt from international mediation practitioners. The paper is divided into four parts that follow the four phases of mediation: the pre-talks, the talks, the agreement, and the implementation phase. Each part consists of two elements, (1) a checklist of things to consider is included at the very beginning of each section, and (2) lists of lessons that have been gathered from internationally- experienced mediation practitioners.

  • 2010 | Author: J.A. Mason and M. Siegfried (United States Institute of Peace – USIP, co-published with CSS and Swisspeace)

    Debriefing Mediators to Learn from Their Experiences

    The goal of this handbook is to enhance the practice of mediation by showing how lessons from individual mediators can be identified and made available both to their home organization and to a wider practitioner audience. More particularly, the handbook gives guidance to staff debriefing mediators who are or have been directly involved in peace negotiations. The guide outlines in a four-step process how to prepare for the interview, conduct the interview, structure and analyze the experience and disseminate the knowledge acquired.

Wealth-sharing and Natural Resources

  • 2015 | Author: United Nations Department of Political Affairs and United Nations Development Programme

    Natural Resources and Conflict: A Guide for Mediation Practitioners

    The guide aims to inform mediators and stakeholders addressing conflicts over natural resources — whether those disagreements are violent, have the potential to turn violent, or are part of a larger political struggle, including within a peace process. It draws on the field experiences of mediators and mediation experts. It also features lessons learned from UNEP’s work on environmental diplomacy in different conflict affected countries, with a particular focus on how to use impartial technical knowledge to equalize stakeholder information in a mediation process. Helping to identify paths towards resolution through mediation and third-party involvement, the Guide can be applied for localized and transboundary conflicts, as well as natural resource disputes that arise in the context of broader peace negotiations. 

  • 2013 | Author: Simon J. A. Mason and Dorothea Blank (CSS, ETH Zurich)

    Mediating Water Use Conflicts in Peace Processes

    The aim of this document is to help mediators working on peace processes to address water issues. The authors argue that the mediation of water conflicts differs somewhat from the mediation of other conflicts, and peace mediators should be aware of this if they are to deal adequately with water-related issues in complex political peace processes. The guidance describes the general principles to keep in mind when mediating water conflicts, looks at the mediation of water conflicts related to local communities, and focuses on the mediation in the context of national-level peace negotiations.

  • 2012 | Author: The United Nations Interagency Framework Team for Preventive Action

    ‘Extractive Industries and Conflict’ - Toolkit and Guidance for Preventing and Managing Land and Natural Resources Conflict

    This Guidance Note focuses on the role of natural resources, and in particular Extractive Industries (EI), in triggering, escalating or sustaining violent conflict. The paper identifies the main drivers of EI-related conflicts, proposes a framework for designing intervention strategies and identifies six key opportunities for country-level interventions to manage and prevent these conflicts. Throughout the Guidance Note, case studies are used to highlight key challenges and response strategies.

  • 2012 | Author: The United Nations Interagency Framework Team for Preventive Action

    ‘Land and Conflict’ - Toolkit and Guidance for Preventing and Managing Land and Natural Resources Conflict

    This Guidance Note presents a framework to understand the relationship between land, conflict and international action at different stages of conflict, and includes broad strategies to guide international support at different stages of the conflict cycle. The guidance draws on upon recent international experience, including from UN peacekeeping and peace operations, to develop a systematic approach to address land grievances and conflicts.

  • 2012 | Author: The United Nations Interagency Framework Team for Preventive Action

    ‘Renewable Resources and Conflict’ - Toolkit and Guidance for Preventing and Managing Land and Natural Resources Conflict

    This Guidance Note focuses on drivers of conflict over renewable resources. It recommends strategies and interventions that can be undertaken at the country-level to prevent conflicts over renewable resources, and to promote strategies for conflict sensitivity in natural resource management and in the design of development projects. The guidance provides a total of 50 conflict prevention interventions for specific resource sectors such as water, pastures, forests, and fisheries. Throughout this Guidance Note, case studies from UN and EU operations are used to highlight key challenges, risks and response strategies. 

  • 2012 | Author: The United Nations Interagency Framework Team for Preventive Action

    ‘Strengthening Capacity for Conflict-Sensitive Natural Resource Management- Toolkit and Guidance for Preventing and Managing Land and Natural...

    This Guidance Note identifies the challenges associated with capacity-building for Natural Resources Management (NRM) that arise in conflict-affected and fragile states. It attempts to help further understanding on what needs to be done in order to integrate conflict prevention and post-conflict recovery concerns into capacity-building efforts in the NRM sector (i.e. the skills, institutions, practices, and relationships among state and civil society actors needed to manage and prevent violent conflicts over these vital resources). 

  • 2009 | Author: N.Haysom, S.Kane (HD Center)

    Negotiating Natural Resources for Peace: Ownership, Control and Wealth-sharing

    This article seeks to diagnose and provide conceptual clarity on the broad categories of issues important in the negotiation and management of natural resources in these types of situations, whether they arise in federal states or in unitary states facing local demands for autonomy and control over ‘their’ local resources.

  • 2007 | Author: UN-Habitat

    How to Develop a Pro-poor Land Policy: Process, Guide and Lessons

    This guide outlines the process for developing a land policy that helps correct the disadvantages that poor people often suffer in many areas of land policy. Section 5 focuses specially on addressing potential conflicts emerging from the process; and section 6 provides advice on “managing the politics.”

  • 2005 | Author: Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)

    Negotiation and Mediation Techniques for Natural Resource Management

    This guide looks at how negotiation and consensus building can be used to manage conflict and build collaboration. The guide provides practical, step-by-step advice on working with many different stakeholders to reach mutually satisfactory agreements in collaborative natural resources management.

  • 2005 | Author: M. Humphreys

    Natural Resources, Conflict and Conflict Resolution: Uncovering the Mechanisms

    This paper focuses on the different mechanisms that may link resources and conflict. The paper catalogues a large range of rival possible mechanisms that could explain the relationship between natural resources and war onset and duration, highlights a set of techniques that may be used to identify these mechanisms, and begins to employ these techniques to distinguish between rival accounts of the resource-conflict linkages.

Rule of Law and Transitional Justice

  • 2014 | Author: Transitional Justice Institute of the University of Ulster

    The Belfast Guidelines on Amnesty and Accountability

    The Belfast Guidelines on Amnesty and Accountability aim to assist all those seeking to make or evaluate decisions on amnesties and accountability in the midst or in the wake of conflict or repression. The Guidelines identify the multiple obligations and objectives facing states in protecting human rights, explain the legal status of amnesties within the framework of the multiple legal obligations that states must reconcile, assist states in recognising the positive role of certain forms of amnesty in advancing transitional policy and conflict transformation goals, present ways that amnesties and any associated processes or institutions can be designed to complement accountability, recommend approaches that allow public participation and, independent review of decisions to enact and grant amnesty. The Guidelines are divided into four parts: general principles; scope of amnesty; amnesty conditions; and amnesty adoption, implementation and review. All guidelines should be interpreted in accordance with the General Principles in Part A.

  • 2009 | Author: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

    Rule of Law Tools for Post-conflict States: Amnesties

    This publication identifies the principal rules of international law and United Nations policy that should guide United Nations personnel when confronted with draft amnesties. Examples of amnesties are provided to illustrate the rules of international law that are applicable when assessing an amnesty. This publication further considers the relationship between amnesties and various processes of transitional justice and provides guidance to practitioners who may encounter questions when seeking to apply the principles summarized in Amnesties to ambiguous situations in the field.

  • 2009 | Author: P. Hayner (HD Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, International Center for Transitional Justice - ICTJ)

    Negotiating Justice: Guidance for Mediators

    This paper intends to provide guidance on the parameters and policy options for justice in the context of peace negotiations, including basic facts of law, guidance on amnesties and international criminal justice, and lessons for incorporating approaches to accountability that are not limited to prosecutions. It is based in part on lessons emerging from recent mediation experiences in a range of country contexts, with a particular focus on Liberia, Sierra Leone, Burundi, and Aceh, Indonesia.

  • 2006 | Author: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

    Rule of Law Tools for Post-conflict States: Truth Commissions

    This publication specifically sets out basic principles and approaches to truth commissions and is intended to assist United Nations and other policymakers in advising on the development of truth-seeking mechanisms. The principles used in this tool have been primarily garnered from previous experience and lessons learned in the implementation of these techniques and mechanisms in United Nations field missions, including those in Sierra Leone and Timor-Leste.

  • 1998 | Author: International IDEA

    Democracy and Deep-Rooted Conflict: Options for Negotiators (Chapter 4: Truth Commissions and War Crimes Tribunals)

    This chapter of the "Democracy and Deep-Rooted Conflict" Handbook addresses two mechanisms to achieve accountability for past violent events: truth commissions and war-crime tribunals.

Inclusivity

  • 2014 | Author: Thania Paffenholz (HD Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue)

    Broadening participation in peace processes - Dilemmas and Options for Mediators

    This paper seeks to provide mediators and mediation teams with a better understanding of, and options for, broadening participation in peace negotiations without reducing the effectiveness of the mediation process. The question of participation is analyzed from a process design perspective: ‘Who should participate in which phase, role and form in order to achieve the desired objective?’ It also looks at challenges and how to manage them, and presents nine participations models based on existing practices. 

  • 2013 | Author: John Packer (Civil Society Dialogue Network-CSDN)

    Challenges and Opportunities of Inclusivity in Peace Processes

    This paper examines the challenges and opportunities of inclusion with reference to existing norms and standards of contemporary international relations and law. Examples from practice will be cited. In doing so, it is intended that practitioners will be better informed and able to design and implement effective processes of conflict prevention, resolution or peacebuilding, not least in the context of political transitions. This paper has been produced in the framework of the Civil Society Dialogue Network.

  • 2009 | Author: Accord, Conciliation Resources

    Public participation in peacemaking

    This policy brief from draws on the findings from Accord 'Owning the process: Public participation in peacemaking' and explores how negotiations and peace processes can be more inclusive. It reveals strategies for more democratic peacemaking with a focus on the mechanisms of public participation in peacemaking used in South Africa, Guatemala and Mali. 

Third Parties

  • 2013 | Author: K. Herbolzheimer, E.Leslie (Conciliation Resources)

    Innovation in Mediation Support: The International Contact Group in Mindanao

    This practice paper explores the role played by the International Contact Group (ICG) for the Mindanao peace process in achieving a framework peace agreement, and examines the contribution of hybrid mechanisms to the field of mediation and conflict transformation. The ICG for the Mindanao peace process was established in 2009, and is composed of four states and four international NGOs.

  • 2010 | Author: T.Whitfield (HD Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue)

    External Actors in Mediation: Dilemmas and Options for Mediators

    This paper explores various means by which international mediators may relate to and involve other external actors in a peace process. Developing strategies involves consideration of how to make best use of leverage, assets, knowledge and access that other external actors may have; how to neutralise or block unhelpful external interference; and how to create or encourage a broad base of support for settlement.

DDR and SSR

  • 2012 | Author: K. Ong (United States Institute for Peace - USIP)

    Managing Fighting Forces - DDR in Peace Processes

    This handbook provides guidance on the mediation and negotiation aspects of DDR and proposes ways for mediators to establish appropriate linkages between DDR and other aspects of a peace process. The handbook provides insights on how DDR is understood by armed groups and the strategies (or countermeasures) that they might adopt to delay, avoid, or manipulate the DDR program for political, economic, or security gains. It also lays out eight steps that mediators can take as they address DDR issues. The first four steps broadly correspond to the prenegotiation phase, the next three to the negotiation phase, and the last to the implementation phase.

  • 2010 | Author: United Nations (Department of Peacekeeping Operations)

    African Perspectives on Security Sector Reform

    The report highlights the discussion of the May 2010 High-level Forum on African Perspectives on SSR which focused on the emerging trends in the field of SSR, the role of intra-African SSR support, outsourcing and the role of private commercial security actors in supporting SSR and the significance of the African Union’s SSR Policy as an integral part the African Peace and Security Framework (APSA). The report presents the three main themes discussed in the forum which are national ownership, coordination of SSR assistance, and the regional dimensions of SSR. 

  • 2009 | Author: Eboe Hutchful (African Security Sector Network - ASSN)

    Security Sector Reform Provisions in Peace Agreements

    This report reviews and analyses the inclusion of SSR provisions in peace agreements and the monitoring of their implementation. It focuses on a number of peace agreements drawn from eight countries in Africa (Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Sudan, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone and Liberia), two from Central America (El Salvador and Guatemala) and one from Asia (Timor Leste). The report demonstrates that there are risks in failing to integrate issues of SSR into peace negotiations and agreements at the very outset, or for doing so in a selective and superficial manner. The report details these risks and makes recommendations for future provisions in peace agreements. 

  • 2008 | Author: C.Buchanan, C.Cavanaugh, V.Grabe, A.Baaré (HD Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue)

    Negotiating Disarmament: Reflections on Guns, Fighters and Armed Violence in Peace Processes (Vol.2)

    This publication brings together a unique set of insights on security issues drawing upon the individual experiences of those involved in peace processes. From the perspective of representatives of warring parties, Vera Grabe, a leading member of the Colombian guerrilla group M-19, describes that organisation’s gravitation towards non-violence and demobilisation. From the perspective of thematic advisers to peace processes, Anton Barré shares his views and recent experience as DDR adviser over the course of the negotiations in northern Uganda, while mediator Ambassador Carey Cavanaugh draws on the example of Nagorno-Karabakh to address the  steps third parties may be called on to take in order to contain violence during the negotiation phase.

  • 2007 | Author: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

    The OECD Dac Handbook on Security System Reform (SSR)

    The handbook provides guidance to operationalise the DAC SSR guidelines. It is targeted at development, security, rule of law and diplomatic personnel - practitioners in field missions and those working on policy and strategy issues at headquarters. It largely follows the external assistance programme cycle and contains valuable tools to help encourage a dialogue on security and justice issues and to support an SSR process through the assessment, design and implementation phases. It also provides new guidance on monitoring, review and evaluation of SSR programmes, and highlights how to ensure greater coherence across the different actors and departments engaged in SSR.

Constitutions

  • 2012 | Author: M.Böckenförde, N.Hedling, W.Wahiu (International IDEA)

    A Practical Guide to Constitution Building

    The principal aim of this Guide is to provide a tool drawing on lessons from recent practice and trends in constitution building. It is divided into chapters which can be read as individual segments, while the use of a consistent analytical framework across each chapter provides a deeper understanding of the range of issues and forces at play in processes of constitutional development. While focusing on constitutions as key documents in themselves, this publication stresses understanding constitutional systems as a whole, including the relevant principles and the need to build a culture of human rights, as well as the provisions for institutional design and decentralized forms of government.

  • 2011 | Author: M.Brandt, J.Cottrell, Y.Ghai, A.Regan

    Constitution-making and Reform: Options for the Process

    The handbook is a ‘how to guide’ for constitution-makers. It provides practical guidance on how to design transparent, nationally led and owned processes that are also participatory and inclusive. The handbook is divided into four main parts. Part 1 is an introduction to constitution-making processes. It outlines the key issues about the roles of constitutions and some of the challenges, dilemmas, and opportunities involved in constitution-making, especially in situations of conflict. Part 2 discusses common tasks carried out in constitution-making processes. Part 3 is concerned with the institutions and procedures commonly established to carry out the tasks. These include commissions, constituent assemblies, and national conferences. Part 4 provides guidance for external actors in the process, who may act on their own initiative or be linked with the official process. The section focuses on the role of civil society and the media. It also discusses the common pitfalls for constitution-making processes when the international community has taken a leading role.

  • 2008 | Author: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA)

    Creating the New Constitution: A Guide for Nepali Citizens

    The book presents a brief history of past constitutions in Nepal from the perspective of constitution making. It includes a more detailed examination of the substance of the 1990 Constitution, analyzing its strengths and weaknesses, in the expectation that this will help readers better understand the current issues and debates. It identifies some proposals and controversies surrounding political reform. It does not offer particular solutions; rather it provides an analysis of different options that emerge when making a new constitution. It aims to encourage full participation in the process of constitution making by introducing readers to constitutionalism, the roles of constitutions, and to key constitutional concepts, relating the latter to the current issues of political reform.

  • 2007 | Author: H.P. Bhattarai (ed.), J.Subedi (ed.) (Nepal South Asia Center - NESAC)

    Democratic Constitution Making - Experiences from Nepal, Kenya, South Africa and Sri Lanka

    This book aims at helping understand the issues, constraints, challenges and opportunities of democratic constitution making. The book is an outcome of the seminar ‘Towards Inclusive and Participatory Constitution-making’ held in August, 2004. Focusing on the constitution making processes in South Africa, Kenya and Sri Lanka, the authors draw lessons from those experiences for future constitutional reform processes in Nepal.

  • 2007 | Author: The Public International Law & Policy Group

    Post-Conflict Constitution Drafter’s Handbook

    The Handbook divides the core provisions commonly found in post-conflict constitutions into individual chapters. The chapters include: Preamble Provisions, State Structure and Devolution of Powers, the Executive, the Legislature, the Judiciary, Electoral System, Financial Matters and the Central Bank, Human Rights, Minority Rights, Women's Rights, Defense and Security, the Role of Religion, Natural Resources, and Extraordinary Measures.

  • 2003 | Author: V.Hart (United States Institute for Peace - USIP)

    Democratic Constitution Making

    This report examines the role of constitution making as part of peacemaking, particularly in divided societies, where the process of participatory constitution making may sometimes provide a forum for reconciling divisions, negotiating conflict, and redressing grievances. The report analyzes recent practices of constitution making across the globe and documents the emergence of international human rights norms that recognize the right to public participation in changing or creating a constitution. 

Women, Peace and Security

  • 2012 | Author: S.Naraghi Anderlini, V.Stanski (International Alert/Hunt Alternatives Fund)

    Conflict Prevention, Resolution and Reconstruction - A Toolkit for Advocacy and Action

    This toolkit outlines the components of peace building from conflict prevention to post-conflict reconstruction and highlights the role that women play in each phase. It is directed to women peace builders and the policy community.

  • 2010 | Author: K.DeRemer (Initiative for Quiet Diplomacy)

    SCR 1325 and Women's Participation: Operational Guidelines for Conflict Resolution and Peace Processes

    This publication aims to provide an easily accessible ‘how to’ reference, in the form of operational guidelines for key actors, to enhance the participation of women in conflict resolution and peace processes. It identifies areas of policy and practice, measures and activities to promote women’s involvement specifically in dialogue, mediation, peace processes and related activities for the prevention, management and resolution of conflict. It also highlights examples of women’s representation and participation in specific situations, and seeks to identify what has worked and what has not. Options, challenges and policy-relevant recommendations are presented to inform good practice and maximize women’s meaningful involvement in the indicated areas.

  • 2010 | Author: UNIFEM (part of UNWOMEN)

    Guidance Note: Identifying Women’s Peace and Security Priorities: Building Voice and Influence

    This Guidance Note is intended to facilitate efforts to support women’s efforts to develop a context-specific agenda for gender-equal peace, security and recovery. Based on successful cases where women effectively opened the doors and managed to voice their concerns in peace negotiations and donor conferences, it addresses the challenge of enabling women to communicate effectively with decision-makers on peace and security: national leaders, national or international mediators in peace negotiations, participants on peace negotiation delegations, leaders of peacekeeping missions, post-conflict planners, public expenditure managers, organizers of donor conferences, international and national implementers of post-conflict recovery processes and the like.

Africa

  • 2011 | Author: T.Kwasi Tieku

    Lessons Learned from Mediation by an African Regional Organization

    This paper examines the Organization of African Unity, now the African Union’s (O/AU) mediation of Burundi conflicts between 1993 and 2009 to help observers of African international relations gain a deeper understanding of lessons that can be learned from mediation by African regional organizations. The paper argues that many novel conflict resolution tools, including the creation of an effective ad hoc regional institution to provide political support to the mediator, emerged from the mediation processes.

  • 2009 | Author: E.Lindenmayer, J.L.Kaye (International Peace Institute)

    A Choice for Peace? The Story of Forty-One Days of Mediation in Kenya

    This paper gives a detailed account of the forty-one-day mediation process in Kenya led by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan which culminated in the signing of the ‘Agreement on the Principles of Partnership of the Coalition Government’. It pays particular attention to the factors that made Kenya accept international mediation, and it concentrates on the role and comparative advantages of the African Union, as well as the unique and undivided support of the many stakeholders, including the international community. The paper also describes the series of conflict-resolution strategies and tools used by the Panel of Eminent African Personalities, and it provides a set of conclusions and recommendations that reflect what kinds of lessons can be learned from this case of successful mediation. 

  • 2009 | Author: J.Brosché (Upsalla University, in support of the Mediation Support Unit, Department of Political Affairs, United Nations)

    Sharing Power: Enabling Peace? Evaluating Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement 2005

    This study sets out to examine what lessons can be learned from Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) 2005, with particular relevance to power-sharing. The report describes ten lessons learned, and these are divided into the three aspects of process, provisions and implementation. 

  • 2009 | Author: D.Nilsson (Upsalla University, in support of the Mediation Support Unit, Department of Political Affairs, United Nations)

    Crafting a Secure Peace: Evaluating Liberia’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement 2003

    This report evaluates Liberia’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in 2003, and presents lessons learned that can be of importance when creating future peace accords. In particular, this study focuses on how the peace accord addressed the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-combatants, as well as the restructuring of the army and police forces.

  • 2006 | Author: L.Nathan (Crisis States Research Center, LSE)

    No Ownership, No Peace: the Darfur Peace Agreement

    In the context of the Darfur Peace Agreement, this paper examines the deadline diplomacy and the failure of the AU and its international partners to distinguish between getting the parties to sign a peace agreement and obtaining their genuine consent to its terms and execution. It also considers the psycho-political dynamics, balance of power and other factors that gave rise to the parties’ reluctance to enter into real negotiations.

Ceasefires

  • 2011 | Author: L.Chounet-Cambas (HD Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue)

    Negotiating ceasefires: Dilemmas & Options for Mediators

    This publication examines the purpose and content of ceasefire agreements, discuss challenges mediators may face as they approach ceasefire negotiations and introduce some options available to them.

  • 2010 | Author: N.Haysom, J.Hottinger

    Do’s and Don’ts of Sustainable Ceasefire Agreements

    The purpose of this paper is to examine the elements of a ceasefire agreement which would serve to facilitate the implementation and sustainability of such agreements. This paper was initially presented to the IGAD Sudan Peace Process Workshop on Detailed Security Arrangements in Sudan during the Transition. It has since been presented for discussion in Nepal, Sri Lanka and South Africa.

Power-sharing

  • 2010 | Author: N.Töpperwien (State Concepts) with the Mediation Support Project (swisspeace/CSS ETH-Zurich) and in consultation with the Mediation Support Unit, Department of Political Affairs, United Nations

    Decentralization, Special Territorial Autonomy, and Peace Negotiations

    This paper provides an introduction to decentralization and special territorial autonomy for mediators. It presents the conflict resolution potential and risks of these options. The paper also outlines some of the key elements of negotiation, discusses when and why decentralization and special autonomy arrangements should be considered in peace negotiations and presents key options on how to address them in peace processes. It also contains key questions for mediators to consider before, during and after a peace process. 

  • 2009 | Author: M.Mezzera, M.Pavicic, L.Specker (Clingendael Institute)

    Governance Components in Peace Agreements: Fundamental Elements of State and Peace Building?

    The attention of this study is devoted to both the designing and the implementation phases of peace agreements, in an attempt to deduct whether certain governance components can be regarded as essential elements in the reconstruction of stable post-conflict societies, and thus in conducing to sustainable peace, or, on the contrary, whether they play a functional role in the resurgence of violent competition and conflict. The study identifies the kind of governance components that have been built in peace agreements and analyses the relations between the inclusion or exclusion of these governance components in the agreements, and the outcome of the medium and long-term democratization processes following those agreements. 

  • 2009 | Author: N.Töpperwien (State Concepts) with the Mediation Support Project (swisspeace/CSS ETH-Zurich) and in consultation with the Mediation Support Unit, Department of Political Affairs, United Nations

    Federalism and Peace Mediation

    This paper provides a basic introduction to federalism for mediators. It describes the conceptual framework and the outlines some of the options for mediators and how to address these issues in peace processes. It also contains key questions for mediators to consider before, during and after a peace process.

  • 1998 | Author: International IDEA

    Democracy and Deep-Rooted Conflict: Options for Negotiators (Chapter 4: Democratic Levers for Conflict Management)

    This chapter of the Handbook ‘Democracy and Deep-Rooted Conflict’ addresses the need to inform political actors about the options available in terms of democratic institutions. It outlines the way in which basic institutions and policies can be purposely designed to maximize the prospects of democracy taking root in post-conflict societies. The paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the following constitutional and policy levers: power-sharing, the structure of the state (federalism and autonomy) and executive type (presidentialism versus parliamentarism).

Cross-regional

  • 2009 | Author: P.Wallensteen, M.Eriksson (Upsalla University, in support of the Mediation Support Unit, Department of Political Affairs, United Nations)

    Negotiating Peace: Lessons from Three Comprehensive Peace Agreements

    This report assesses practical and theoretical challenges from three comprehensive peace processes: Bosnia and Herzegovina – the Dayton Agreement (1995), Liberia – the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (2003), the North-South conflict in Sudan – ‘ The Naivasha Agreement’ (2005). The aim of this report is to single out general features in these agreements, and from the peace processes that preceded them.

Women's Political Participation

  • 2007 | Author: United Nations (Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Department of Field Support, Department of Political Affairs)

    Enhancing the Role of Women in Post-conflict Electoral Processes - DPKO/DFS-DPA Joint Guidelines

    The objective of these guidelines is to provide advice on measures that could be implemented in future electoral processes in post-conflict environments to increase the participation of women as voters, candidates, and electoral officials and to ensure that electoral processes have an equal impact on women and men.

  • 2005 | Author: United Nations (Department of Political Affairs)

    Women&Elections - Guide to Promoting the Participation of Women in Elections

    The handbook is intended to provide a reference guide to assist the United Nations, Governments and civil society working to promote greater participation of women in electoral processes in post-conflict countries. The United Nations’ support for electoral processes now plays a pivotal role in many peace-keeping and peace-building activities. Enhancing women’s participation in electoral processes in post-conflict countries is an integral part of these efforts.

Implementation and Monitoring

  • 2001 | Author: S.J. Stedman (International Peace Academy/International Peace Institute, Stanford University Center for International Security and Cooperation)

    Implementing Peace Agreements in Civil Wars: Lessons and Recommendations for Policymakers

    This paper evaluates peace agreement implementation strategies, the relative importance of various implementation sub-goals (i.e. demobilization, disarmament, refugee repatriation, human rights, reconciliation etc.) and their relationship to overall implementation success, and the linkages between negotiation, implementation and long-term peacebuilding.

  • 2000 | Author: J. Arnault (Princeton University)

    Good Agreement? Bad Agreement? An Implementation Perspective

The Americas

  • 1995 | Author: A. De Soto, G. Del Castillo (Global Governance)

    Implementation of Comprehensive Peace Agreements: Staying the Course in El Salvador

    This article describes the peace process in El Salvador and explores how it belongs to a new breed of multidisciplinary UN operations that seeks to address the root causes of conflict in a comprehensive and integrated manner. The authors offer a synopsis of the different peace agreements in El Salvador negotiated under UN auspices. They argue that utmost attention must be given to the implementation of the aims of these agreements in order to ensure respect for human life, to find a solution for the displaced, to reintegrate the former combatants into civilian life and to establish a stable and growing economy in post-conflict societies.

Disclaimer: In providing these documents the United Nations does not endorse or represent as truthful or accurate the
statements, advice, guidance or opinions expressed therein. Users acknowledge and agree that their reliance upon any
information shall be at the user's sole discretion and risk.